In the race for the 15th Assembly District, incumbent Michael Montesano is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Mario Ferone.

Montesano, a Republican, was born in Brooklyn and moved to Glen Head in 1979. He joined the New York Police Department in 1981 and advanced to the rank of detective. While a NYPD member, he graduated from law school. Today, he owns his own practice in Glen Head. Montesano was first elected during a special election in March 2010 and was re-elected in November 2010.

Ferone, a Democrat, is a third-year student at Stony Brook University studying political science and economics. He is involved in the undergraduate student government on campus.

Herald: The economy is impacting residents. How would you help create or support locals as they look for jobs and recover from the economic downturn? Montesano: Over the past two years, we’ve already undergone major steps in creating economic opportunities for our residents. There was a $75 million investment in the N.Y. Works Development Fund this year, an investment in our future that I will continue to support. I also supported the creation of the Regional Economic Development Councils. Thanks to the grants made available by the councils, companies like our own PL Developments have been able to expand and make investments crucial to job growth. In order to help local businesses further, I support fully repealing the MTA tax for every small business and eliminating the small business franchise tax, which costs job creators statewide hundreds of millions of dollars annually and stifles the growth and development needed to fuel our economy.